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Elsevier

Books in Neuroscience

Elsevier's Neuroscience collection empowers educators, researchers, and students with actionable knowledge to drive collaborative research and advancements in the field. Content covers the nervous system's intricate workings, covering branches like Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive neuroscience to investigate the neural basis of emotions, behavior, and cognitive functions. Spanning from Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience to Developmental Neuroscience, content provides insights into brain function in health and disease.

  • Biological Psychiatry

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 14
    • Edward Bittar
    • English
    It is now widely recognised that biological psychiatry is rapidly coming into its own. For over the last three decades dramatic advances in this young discipline have been made, all of which attest to the staying power of the experimental method. Those who made this revolution in knowledge happen are a breed of investigators availing themselves of the tools of molecular biology, pharmacology, genetics, and perhaps, above all, the technology of neuroimaging. The introduction of the interdisciplinary method of approach to the study of psychopathology had made it very clear that neuroimaging, as a set of techniques, is unique in that it is gradually providing us with evidence supporting Kraepelin's original view that mental illness is closely associated with abnormal changes in the brain.Broadly speaking, there are presently two structural techniques in neuroimaging - computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - and three functional techniques - single photon emission tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Through PET technology, for example, we have learned that, in early brain development, the primitive areas, mostly the brain stem and thalamus, are the first to show high activity in an infant. This is followed by the development of cortical areas by year one. Between the ages of four to 10, the cortex is almost twice as active in the child as in the adult. This information alerts us to what might happen in the way of trauma in abused children, especially those under the age of three. Child abuse increases the risk of physical changes, not only in the stress systems, but also in brain development (Glaser and Weissman). In addition to the difficult problem of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we have to take into account the possibility of other types of mental illness as the consequences of child abuse. These include depression, eating disorders, and drug and alcohol problems.The combination of PET and fMRI represents a more remarkable example of the power of neuroimaging since the two have made it feasible to map accurately in vitro identifiable cortical fields, or networks. In a landmark NIH investigation of human cortical reorganization (plasticity), persuasive evidence was brought forward showing that the process of learning as a motor task involves a specific network of neurons. These neurons occur in the cortical field that is responsible for that particular task. Such findings are important partly because they provide evidence supporting the current notion that labor in the cortex is divided among ensembles of specialized neurons that cooperate in the performance of complex tasks. Cooperation, then, in this, sense implies crosstalk among ensembles and that signals are both processed and retransmitted to neighbouring ensembles. To understand the workings of these ensembles, much better spatial and temporal resolution in functional brain mapping is required. This can be achieved with an NMR instrument whose magnet is 4.1 Tesla or more.

  • Peripheral and Spinal Mechanisms in the Neural Control of Movement

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 123
    • M.D. Binder
    • English
    In the last decade, we have witnessed a striking maturation of our understanding of how neurons in the spinal cord control muscular activity and movement. Paradoxically, a host of new findings have revealed an unexpected versatility in the behavior of these well-studied neural elements and circuits. In this volume, the world's leading experts review the current state of our knowledge of motor control, outline their latest results and developments, and delineate the seminal unresolved questions in this vibrant field of research. The volume begins with a commentary and overview of our current understanding of the peripheral and spinal basis of motor control. The remainder of the volume is divided into seven sections, each focused on a different problem. The first chapter in each section provides some historical review and presages the experimental findings and hypotheses that are discussed in subsequent chapters.Topics include the biomechanics of neuromuscular systems, the properties of motoneurons and the muscle units they control, spinal interneurons, pattern generating circuits, locomotion, descending control of spinal circuits, comparative physiology of motor systems, and motor systems neurophysiology studied in man. The book serves as a unique reference volume and should be essential reading for anyone interested in motor systems. Moreover, the volume's comprehensive coverage of a wide range of topics make it an effective textbook for graduate level courses in motor control neurobiology, kinesiology, physical therapy, and rehabilitation medicine.

  • Neuronal Processing of Optic Flow

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 44
    • English
    When we walk, drive a car, or fly an airplane, visual motion is used to control and guide our movement. Optic flow describes the characteristic pattern of visual motion that arises in these situations. This book is the first to take an in-depth look at the neuronal processing strategies that underlie the brain's ability to analyze and use optic flow for the control of self-motion. It does so in a variety of species which use optic flow in different behavioral contexts. The spectrum ranges from flying insects to birds, higher mammals and man. The contributions cover physiological and behavioral studies as well as computational models. Neuronal Processing of Optic Flow provides an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the current state of research on this topic written by a group of authors who have made essential contributions to shaping this field of research over the last ten years.

  • Cognitive Contributions to the Perception of Spatial and Temporal Events

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 129
    • G. Aschersleben + 2 more
    • English
    The book is concerned with the cognitive contributions to perception, that is, with the influence of attention, intention, or motor processes on performances in spatial and temporal tasks. The chapters deal with fundamental perceptual processes resulting from the simple localization of an object in space or from the temporal determination of an event within a series of events.Chapters are based on presentations given at the Symposium on the Cognitive Contributions to the Perception of Spatial and Temporal Events (September 7–9, 1998, Ohlstadt, Germany). Following each chapter are commentary pieces from other researchers in the field. At the meeting, contributors were encouraged to discuss their theoretical positions along with presenting empirical results and the book's commentary sections help to preserve the spirit and controversies of the symposium.The general topic of the book is split into three parts. Two sections are devoted to the perception of unimodal spatial and temporal events; and are accompanied by a third part on spatio-temporal processes in the domain of intermodal integration.The themes of the book are highly topical. There is a growing interest in studies both with healthy persons and with patients that focus on localization errors and dissociations in localizations resulting from different tasks. These errors lead to new concepts of how visual space is represented. Such deviations are not only observed in the spatial domain but in the temporal domain as well. Typical examples are errors in duration judgments or synchronization errors in tapping tasks. In addition, several studies indicate the influence of attention on both the timing and on the localization of dynamic events. Another intriguing question originates from well-known interactions between intermodal events, namely, whether these events are based on a single representation or whether different representations interact.

  • The Rhesus Monkey Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates

    • 1st Edition
    • George Paxinos + 2 more
    • English
    The Rhesus Monkey Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates is the most comprehensive, detailed atlas of the monkey brain ever constructed. The first chapter, "Photographic and Diagrammatic Atlas of the Rhesus Monkey Brain," presents 151 plates illustrating the subcortex and parts of the cortex in high magnification, and 151 corresponding diagrams complementing each image. The second chapter, "Delineation of the Rhesus Monkey Cortex on the Basis of the Distribution of a Neurofilament Protein," consists of 64 fully labeled plates depicting an entire hemisphere. Jointly, the two chapters constitute the most serious morphological work ever undertaken on the monkey.

  • The Primate Nervous System, Part III

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 15
    • Floyd E. Bloom + 2 more
    • English
    This volume is the third and final part of the planned coverage of the neurochemical circuitry of the primate central nervous system. The five chapters included in this volume complement and integrate magnificently with the two prior volumes. Included in the volume are the following: a two-fold exposition on the human forebrain, comprised of a comprehensive overview of the entire human forebrain, and a specific focus on the basal forebrain (a region critical for a wide range of human problems ranging from substance abuse to Alzheimer's disease), a critical synthesis of the primate basal ganglia (a region under intense scrutiny for the organization of motor programs, and for their dysfunctions in Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and other malfunctions), the chemical and anatomic details of the primate hippocampal formation in extenso, and lastly, a review of the rapidly growing literature on the mesocortical projection of dopaminergic circuits onto the primate frontal cortex ( a system highly linked to higher order mental abstractions, as well as the dysfunctions of schizophrenia). Scholars will recognize that the laying out of these status reports on our still vastly incomplete examination of the primate brains is an opportunity for progress.

  • Handbook of Molecular-Genetic Techniques for Brain and Behavior Research

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 13
    • Wim E. Crusio + 1 more
    • English
    The book gives a broad overview of recombinant DNA techniques for the behavioral neuroscientist, with illustrative examples of applications. Species covered include rodents (mainly mice), Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans and Danio rerio. Experimental techniques required to characterize the behavioral phenotypes of mutant animals is provided. Several aspects of novel molecular-genetic techniques are overviewed and possible research strategies are explained. The sections of the book start with general descriptions of techniques followed by illustrative examples.It is divided into six sections. Section 1, bioinformatics and genomics research. Section 2, top-down strategies, where the researcher starts with the phenotype and then analyzes the associated genes; bottom-up strategies, where the physiological chain leading to a phenotype is analyzed starting from the gene product. Section 3, transgenic approaches in rodents including overexpressing foreign genes and gene-targeting; systemic manipulation approaches directly targeting the central nervous system and methods used with invertebrates. Section 4, methods used to evaluate relevant behavioral phenotypes, including learning and aggression. Section 5, examples on molecular brain research in man. Section 6, ethical aspects of research in this field.

  • Adenosine Receptors and Parkinson's Disease

    • 1st Edition
    • Hiroshi Kase + 2 more
    • English
    This book is the first definitive overview on adenosine receptor antagonists and their application to the treatment of Parkinson's Disease. The effect of these novel non-dopamine drugs on vitro and in vivo systems clearly shows their potential for the treatment of this debilitating disease. This book covers how the Parkinson's disease antagonist drug, A2A, has been researched, developed, and tested. It is an essential book for researchers interested in the basal ganglia, purine biology, and Parkinson's Disease.

  • Psychology of Learning and Motivation

    Advances in Research and Theory
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 39
    • English
    Psychology of Learning and Motivation publishes empirical and theoretical contributions in cognitive and experimental psychology, ranging from classical and instrumental conditioning to complex learning and problem solving. Each chapter provides a thoughtful integration of a body of work. Volume 39 includes in its coverage chapters on category learning, relational timing, infant memory, depression and memory, goals and choice, and more.

  • Disorders of Brain, Behavior, and Cognition: The Neurocomputational Perspective

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 121
    • J.A. Reggia + 2 more
    • English
    This book contains selected contributions of papers, many presented at the Second International Workshop on Neural Modeling of Brain Disorders, as well as a few additional papers on related topics, including a wide range of presentations describing computational models of neurological, neuropsychological and psychiatric disorders. It is a unique, comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art of modeling cognitive and brain disorders, appealing to a multidisciplinary audience of clinicians, psychologists, neuroscientists, cognitive scientists, computer scientists, and other neural network researchers. The rest of the book is organized along four main themes, involving memory, neuropsychological, neurological and psychiatric disorders. In general, the cognitive disorders and these psychiatric diseases traditionally regarded as "functional" were modeled along functional lines, while those disorders traditionally viewed as "organic" neurological diseases generally drew more from knowledge of the underlying neurobiology and pathophysiology.

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